You Should Give More Hugs
by letreeman
Summary: After being forced out of the prison, Carl and Lizzie both struggle with the perils of being on the run once more. But when fate brings them together, they come to form a connection over something else they share: the strain of being a child in the world they live in. But distant threats and a dark secret Lizzie has been keeping will soon come to threaten that connection.
1. Chapter 1

**So I posted this on this day specifically to celebrate the day the second half of season 4 premieres! Yay! I originally wrote this for a friend, because of that Facebook artwork trend thing, but then I decided to post it here as well. Why? Strictly speaking, because I can. Hehe.  
It would be nice if you guys could read this, and I'd like to hear what you think. But if you're gonna be critical, make sure you're constructive. Nasty, pointless comments will be instantly deleted. And come on! I'm new to this whole fanfic writing thing so throw me a bone.  
And since this story is set in the second half of season 4, I'll say now that if God forbid, anything put here ends up happening on the show also, that will be pure coincidence. I am in no way affiliated with the people involved in The Walking Dead, and all characters are property of AMC.  
I mean it's not like that's _actually_ gonna happen but, just in case...**

* * *

At the door of the house, the two walkers clawed and scratch as if they had any hope of toppling it over. It certainly seemed less than likely that they would actually break through the door; after all, they weren't as smart as they had once been as humans, who would probably do more than scratch to try to get the door open. But the risk was still there, as walkers would not stop until they literally crumbled and turned to dust.  
They then heard the loud whistling sound that Carl let off, and slowly turned their gazes to him. Once they did, Carl simply began to walk backwards, away from the house without saying a word. Once again, Carl found himself having to lead walkers away from the house he and his dad Rick were staying in. The latter still hadn't fully healed from the beating he received at the hands of the Governor when their former home was destroyed and later overrun. Though he was certainly not as weak and beat up as he was the first time Carl had to lead walkers away from the house, his son thought it best that he still handle things. He had led the walkers out of the front yard of the house and was now walking backwards down the street, looking behind him every so often to make sure there wasn't anything he could trip on. He led them on further and further down the road, farther and farther away from the house and away from Rick. They were heading towards a more forested area now and Carl removed his gun from its holster. If other walkers were to hear gunshots, better they don't know there's a bigger, weaker person in a nearby house.  
But in true Murphy's Law form, it was in the few seconds when he didn't look behind him that he didn't notice the branch sticking out, and once he fell over, the gnawing walkers immediately began to descend upon him. He was quick though, and he already had his gun out, and almost as soon as he fell down, he was back up and again and the two walkers were dead by his hand. The sound of the gunshot attracted another walker, and Carl quickly put a bullet in its head as well and proceeded to make a run for the house.  
But just as he got out of the forest, yet another snarling walker, one that looked to have once been a boy his age, began its approach towards him. This time however, Carl holstered his gun and took out his knife. Who knows how much unwanted attention he had already attracted with those gunshots? He wasn't going to stay and find out…or attract even more for that matter. In spite of that mindset though, he was tense, moving in place as if he weren't allowed to run unless someone fired a gun to signal to him that he could. He wasn't as good with knives as Daryl or Andrea, and there was a lot more risk involved given that he had to get closer to the gnawing walker. But _it_ was getting closer with every second; it was now or never. With a deep exhale, Carl lunged towards the walker and with a grunt, stabbed it right in the head. They fell over, and Carl stabbed it one more time for good measure. He then got up and starting walking back towards the house, a tense look etched across his sweaty face.

* * *

**So this is just a short Carl-centric chapter, just to kinda set the stage. Just so you know, there will be quite a lot of mention of Andrea in this fic because she was my favorite character on the show. I kinda made it a motif. Whiny Andrea-hating comments will be deleted as well.**


	2. Chapter 2

Tyreese hacked away at the walkers. He was still going strong, taking down one after another with his axe but it just seemed as if they just kept coming. He didn't know if that was because there really were that many walkers or because they were just that damn exhausted. They had been on the run for 3 days since the attack on the prison. Ever since then, they haven't found a place to stay or any people from their old group. It would always be just them, running through the thick walker-infested forest, fighting for survival and aimlessly looking for any signs of stability. The first night, they slept in an abandoned and completely looted pharmacy. The next night, they found a gas station. But they would always run again to the forest afterwards 'cause for some ungodly reason, they would find walkers gathered right outside their refuge the next morning.  
More walkers came their way now, but Tyreese was incredibly strong and alert. If he could survive having dozens of walkers surrounding him close up from every direction like he did during his medicine run with Daryl, Michonne and Bob, what more if he had more room to move _and_ more distant walkers? Three more came his way. He took the first walker down after slashing it across the face and the second one by hacking it right through its skull. The latter went down hard though, and Tyreese had to exert a little bit of effort to remove the axe from its head. Once he did, the third walker had gotten a bit close, but before Tyreese could react, it was shot right in the head by Lizzie. After a short stare down afterwards, the pair continued moving, walker-free for the moment.

"Looks like we'll be on our way out of this forest soon." Tyreese said, as he analyzed his surroundings.

"You're welcome…" Lizzie replied. This was the third time in three days, she felt, that she's saved Tyreese's life since abandoning the prison. Just like last time, they were on a run, looking for whatever could keep them alive. Lizzie shot a deer fawn that they ate over two days. This time though, they were looking for a pharmacy where they could get more supplies.

"We've only moved straight ahead, am I right?" Tyreese asked, making sure they remembered the path they were taking.

They had just set up camp in a small cabin in the woods. They decided to once again leave Judith with Mika and the other kids while they went on their run. It was a risky move, but they made sure to heavily barricade every door and window of the cabin. And if that didn't work, Mika was actually quite a good shot herself. Either way, keeping Judith with Mika definitely seemed safer than for Judith to be carried through walker-infested forest.

"We turned right twice, but I marked the spots." She affirmed.

"With what?" Tyreese asked.

"Heads." She blankly responded as she overtook Tyreese, who couldn't help but stand and stare for a few moments. Ever since he saw Lizzie shoot Alisha right between the eyes, he had felt that there was something off about her.

"You know I don't think even I or Sasha could shoot someone in the head the way you did her."

"I told you! Carol taught us how to shoot while we were at the prison." Tyreese had been questioning her about that incident ever since, and at this point it had begun to get on her nerves.

"Yeah! But right between the eyes!?" He saw Lizzie turn around, put her hands on her hips and agitatedly purse her lips. "Look I know you told me that Carol taught you and all, but do you really expect me to believe that that's all there is to it?… Something's not right about you Lizzie. And quite frankly it's really beginning to disturb me." Tyreese asserted.

"Well whatever _that_ is, it saved your life!" Lizzie shot back after a short pause, with agitation and what sounded like a hint of defensiveness.

"Let's get going. That gunshot might have attracted some more of them." She then continued moving, with Tyreese uneasily following shortly after.

One thing's for sure. Tyreese certainly wasn't good with kids…

* * *

"Dad?" Carl had arrived back at the house. It was dark and quite empty, but with unmistakable evidence that it had been inhabited before everything started.

"Where have you been?" Rick asked, emerging from a room. Ever since his near fatal scuffle with the Governor, Rick had been sleeping in for longer hours. In spite of the puffiness in his face having not quite disappeared entirely yet, it was still obvious that he had just woken up.

"There were walkers trying to get in, so I led them out." Carl replied plainly.

"…Good…" Rick said while nodding rather nonchalantly. To him, what mattered most was that he was alive. He knew that Carl had proven time and time again that he could handle himself just fine while he was out there. "Listen Carl… I, uh, I think I should make the run today." he added.

"Are you sure?" Carl responded almost immediately. Concern immediately etched across his face at his dad's statement. Rick tried to appeal to him.

"Yes, Carl, I"

"Dad, he damn well near killed you." Carl interrupted. Rick softly muttered for him to watch his mouth, but Carl kept going as if he hadn't heard him. "It's been only 3 days and your face still looks beat up!"

"Not as bad as it was when we first left the prison Carl. And I can walk and move just fine too." The unusualness of Rick's having to smooth talk his son into letting him do something when normally it was the other way around was not lost on him.

"Look, I know you can handle yourself out there, but Carl for my sake…"

"What about for my sake dad? I've done the last two runs for the same reason you want to do them now…" Carl explained.

Though not showing it explicitly, Rick couldn't help but feel touched that his son would be so determined to protect him, even though he knew the real reason why.

Carl took a deep sad breath. "Dad. Ever since Judith…"

"Don't." Rick cut in. "I know… I get it." Ever since seeing Judith's bloody baby carrier, they've believed her to be dead. And in that moment, it seemed as if all hope was lost. Judith wasn't just a daughter to Rick and a sister to Carl, she was also a symbol of hope for everyone. To them, she was a symbol that humanity can indeed survive in this world, which made life just a little bit more worth living. And now that she was gone, and with her, the hope that kept everyone a bit more willing to live, and the humanity that Andrea and Dale gave their lives for, everything just seemed…broken. It was as if there was nothing to fight for anymore. As if there was no real point to all of their running and all their fighting…nor would there ever be…

"…We'll both go. We'll cover more ground. And maybe we'll have a better chance of finding any of the others…" Carl finally conceded. "And we're two people. So we can get double the supplies."

"I agree." Rick nodded. "We'll take off at dusk." He said while looking at the watch he had with him. Carl nodded and walked upstairs.

Deep down Rick knew that while he wasn't exactly a liability, he still wasn't 100% and because of that, Carl needed to step up. And in his mind, that he has.

* * *

Tyreese and Lizzie kept on walking. They were sweating profusely, but they both knew that now would be the absolute worst time to give out. The light was getting in better and the ground was getting rougher – they were just about making their way out of the forest and into the road. As they were making their way out however, another walker began shambling its way toward them. Tyreese was getting his axe ready.

"I've got this." Lizzie asserted casually before moving towards the walker. She took out her knife and stabbed it right through its chin.  
"No need to mark the tree anymore." She slyly added. She did all this with a nonchalance that Tyreese could remember in only one other person: the Governor.

What was more disturbing to him was that this was not the first time he'd seen her do something like that with the same demeanor she had, but he didn't bring it up 'cause he knew that if he did, she'd just brush him off.

They made their way out of the forest, where there was a large grocery store to their right just a good 20 meters ahead. They immediately began to slowly but surely walk towards it. They arrived at the entrance, walked through the parking lot full of abandoned cars, and into the grocery. It had two floors, but while it was tempting, they were there to get only what they needed. It was starting to get dark, and there was a baby who needed them back ASAP. They made a quick sweep of the first floor to make sure nothing would surprise them.

"We get only what we need." Tyreese whispered, stating the obvious.

They gathered just enough supplies to fill their bags but not to the point of putting unwanted weight on their shoulders. As Lizzie made her way out of the store, Tyreese suddenly heard what he thought was shuffling from the second floor. He was just about to go investigate the noise, axe in hand, when Lizzie whispered out to him, gesturing him to come to where she was.

"What?"

"Look." Lizzie pointed to one of the cars. This one was different from the other ones in the parking lot. It didn't look as beat down, and there were supplies inside and on top of it.

"What the hell?" Tyreese softly uttered, and he and Lizzie slowly began walking up to the vehicle. "You think it's been here all this time?"

"I don't think so. I don't see any cobwebs or anything like that and the supplies don't look expired." Lizzie observed

"Maybe they didn't take off too long ago…"

"…Or maybe they didn't take off at all…"

And almost just as Lizzie said it, the sound of a gun cocking was heard and they were suddenly told to put their hands up.

"Step away from the vehicle." The car's owner, who was obviously female, ordered. They thought there was something familiar about her voice. Nonetheless, they slowly began to back away from the vehicle, fists up.

"Place your weapons on the floor." Tyreese slowly put his axe on the ground, while Lizzie did the same with her gun.

"Now turn around." The owner ordered. And when they did, the entire situation took a different turn, as Carol Peletier lowered her gun in absolute shock, while Tyreese and Lizzie lowered their hands. Tears began to well up in Lizzie's face.

"Carol!" Lizzie breathed out, and she immediately ran towards Carol, who holstered her gun as she and Lizzie embraced each other in a tearful reunion.

"It's good to see you Carol." Tyreese said simply but meaningfully. At seeing Tyreese though, Carol put everything she had in making sure the smile on her face did not disappear.

"It's good to see you too." She replied in the same tone of voice. After taking in the moment, Carol straightened her face.

"What are you guys doing out here?"

And at that, the smiles on Tyreese and Lizzie's faces disappeared.

"You weren't at the prison?"

"No." But before she could be asked about that, she immediately brought her question back up. "Wait! What happened?"

After a moment, Tyreese finally answered. "He came back." Carol knew exactly whom he was talking about and faced her head to the ground. "He brought a tank, cars, people with guns…the prison didn't stand a chance. It was either we leave, or we die."

"What about the others?" Carol was still in utter shock over what she was hearing.

"I don't know. I saw Glenn leave with everyone on the bus, Maggie, Bob…Sasha… they left on their own…and that's it."

"…What about you? Anyone else with you?" Carol stuttered.

"Mika…Luke, Molly…Judith." Carol couldn't hide the relief on her face at knowing that Judith was alive.  
"Hershel though…" Tyreese couldn't go on, and the look of relief was washed right out of Carol's face. She looked at him, and Tyreese simply shook his head. Carol placed her hand on her mouth and despairingly squatted down, she almost looked like a statue the way she was. Lizzie began to shed silent tears as well, recalling when Tyreese told her about what had happened. After a few moments of mourning, Carol took a breath in and stood up.

"Where are you guys now?" She asked.

"We have a cabin, in the woods."

"I marked the checkpoints to get there." Lizzie added.

Carol nodded, still shaken from and devastated by the news of Hershel.

"I have a house…not too far from here…I'll take you there."

* * *

**So I made this part assuming that Tyreese really did carry Judith out of the prison as some people analyzing "Too Far Gone" suggested. And I hope this doesn't discourage some of you readers, but Carl and Lizzie won't be meeting up for a while. I guess it's an Andrea reference 'cause she took a while to reunite with Team Prison too. Good things come to those who wait? Right? Hehe**


	3. Chapter 3

Lizzie was sitting on one of the beds in Carol's new home. The bed was fairly soft, somehow still had its covers on, though the pillows and blanket were obviously taken by Carol from somewhere. The room itself was, save for a dusty useless TV, rather empty, either because the previous owners (or owner) took everything in the room or 'cause Carol dumped them. But that wasn't what was on her mind; for all she knew or cared, whoever owned this place before the world went to shit was dead…or undead. What was on her mind was the knife she was holding in her hands as she sat there. The fact of the matter was, for an 11 year old, she's used that knife quite a lot of times. A _lot _of death has come from that knife. She'd become a killer. If the world were still the way it was, everyone would look at her in fear and loathing. She'd be on the news and everyone would see her as some child psychopath. But now, if people would see her the way she is, they would probably call her a survivor, a warrior even. In every sense of the word, the only way she or anyone for that matter could survive in this world was to be able to kill. No exceptions. But she wondered; could that new world order, really justify _everything _she's done with that knife? Before she could continue with her train of thought, it was disrupted by a creek from the room's door. Carol came in, warm smile on her face, hands in pockets, and sat down beside Lizzie.

"Never really got to talk to you back there." Carol started.

Lizzie smiled and looked to the floor. "I think there were some things you and Tyreese needed to talk about, adult to adult."

Carol exhaled through her nose and smirked as if she found something moderately funny, even though Lizzie wasn't even joking.

"Carol," But before she could continue, Carol cut in.

"So Tyreese tells me you shot someone…'right between the eyes' he says."

After a moment's silence, Lizzie spoke up. "She was one of The Governor's soldiers. She and another person cornered Tyreese and started shooting at him. They damn well would have killed him if I hadn't stepped in. I got the other guy by surprise, he probably didn't see it coming, and she I guess, just couldn't believe that a child was holding a gun… Sure as hell bought me some time…"

"So you got her by surprise too, then." Carol remarked, and this time it was Lizzie who laughed at the joke that wasn't even a joke. Carol then began to stroke Lizzie's hair. "You know Lizzie," But before she could continue, Lizzie cut in.

"Why weren't you at the prison when The Governor attacked?"

At that, Carol motioned her hand away from Lizzie's head, and faced the wall.

After a moment of silence, she spoke up. "I went on that run with Rick. And I guess it's safe to say, that I didn't come back."

"Why not?"

"…Because Rick didn't want me to…"

"…Why did he banish you?"

Carol then turned and stared intently at Lizzie. "Do I really need to tell you?"

Lizzie gave a look that suggested that she knew she asked something she really shouldn't have asked and then softly said no. Carol nodded and started stroking her hair again.

"You know Lizzie, I remember when I told you that you were weak. But from everything I've heard, it seems that you've just straight up proven me wrong."

"You're the one who told me that being weak wouldn't do me any good in this world. 'If you want to survive, you have to be strong' you told me."

"And that you are Lizzie." Carol replied in an almost motherly tone. "I want you to have something." She added. And Carol then took out something from her coat pocket. It was small, dark and cylindrical. She then gave it to Lizzie.

"What's this?" She inquired with a smile on her face.

"It's a gun silencer. So that every time you shoot, it won't be as loud. It will sure do you wonders when you're out there. One or two walkers can make the difference you know…"

"And people too." She replied while looking at the silencer.

"…And people too." Carol affirmed with a pondering look on her face.

* * *

Rick and Carl wearily made their way to the entrance of the market. It was dark, but from what the flashlights captured, it was obvious that others had been there before.

"We get only what we need." Rick reminded of the obvious. If he had a penny for every time he said that…

"I'll do the sweep." Carl said while moving in. He shuffled around the market, flashlight in hand, not yet taking anything and making sure there wasn't anything to surprise them. After a few minutes, Carl nodded, signaling that the coast was clear. Carl and Rick moved in, taking anything and everything from canned food, tools, water bottles, and blades and stuffed them in their bags. There didn't seem to be any medications within the floor though. And while Rick was a lot stronger than he was after first leaving the prison, he still had a bit of a limp and could definitely use some nice painkillers.

"Carl!" Rick whisper screamed.

"Yeah?"" Carl responded after a few short moments.

"Can't find any medicine here. Any on your side?"

"No… Maybe they're there upstairs. I'll take a look." And Carl immediately made his way to the market's stairs.

"Just get the painkillers and Band-Aids. And make sure to sweep first."

"I know dad." Carl reminded him that this was all second nature to him now. "I'll find you a shaver too." He joked.

"Don't even think about it!" Rick was almost serious in saying that.

And as fate would have it, the medicines were on the second floor, which itself looked like it had been raided. And there were the painkillers and Band-Aids. And Carl couldn't help but grin. This was a good run. He quickly stuffed them in his bag.

"Got everything! Let's go!" Carl told his dad as he went down the stairs.

"You found the painkillers?"

"Yeah!"

They made their way out of the market, a two-floor grocery, and quickly got into the car they found the previous day, and drove off, the two bags of supplies placed in the back. While driving back, they thought they saw what looked like a dead walker lying near the side of the road leading to the forest. But they couldn't tell for sure; there were too many trees surrounding it, and they needed to get back soon anyway. They drove in silence, though that silence was broken when Carl placed something on the dashboard: a shaver.

"Really?" Rick smirked at his son.

"You gotta do what you gotta do, dad." Carl quipped, channeling his inner teenage smart aleck.

Rick silently laughed. "Go back and get shaving cream and then we'll start talking."

"…Well how am I gonna do that when you're the one driving…"

"…Exactly."

And for the first time in what felt like forever, as light as it was, they laughed.

* * *

**I think my word choice sucks... Anyway, if it's bothering you, just let me know...nicely, 'cause actually it's bothering me too. For what it's worth though, English isn't my first language.**


	4. Chapter 4

Carol walked into the living room where Tyreese was sitting on a couch, a glass of water in hand.

"Judith and the other kids are sound asleep."

"And Lizzie?"

"I tucked her in too."

Tyreese nodded and placed his glass of water on the nearby coffee table. "She tells me she took lessons from you. On how to use weapons."

"…That she did."

Tyreese reflectively faced the ground.

"I've seen a lot of crazy things ever since all of this began, but I don't think I'll ever forget the moment when she shot that woman."

"She did what she had to do… Saved your life while doing it…"

"I know." Tyreese responded almost immediately. "But Carol, she's a child."

"Are we really gonna have this discussion Tyreese?" Carol interjected, slightly raising her voice. "The prison's lost, Hershel's dead, you're all spread out…I think those skills will come in handy don't you think?"

Tyreese knew that Carol was completely right. "I just wish there was another way."

"…I do too. But that's just not how the world works anymore."

"Yeah… Hasn't been that way in… How long has it been? Two years?"

"Since this all started? Pretty much… I wouldn't really know…"

Tyreese chuckled. "You know how they used to say, that so much could change in your life in just a year or two… I don't even remember what it was like celebrating the New Year when this all started…"

A small regretful smile flashed on Carol's face. "No one saw it coming… I mean…do you really think all those people would have imagined in their wildest dreams that they would meet their maker by having their flesh ripped from their bones?" In spite of the very macabre nature of that question, by this point, the tenseness from earlier had defused somewhat.

Tyreese clicked his tongue softly. "It just seems that nothing is too crazy for this world anymore… Would Hershel, the wise and smart man that he was, ever have really thought that he would…he would have his…head…chopped off with a _sword_?" It took pretty much everything Tyreese had for him to be able to say those words. Hershel was a good man. In fact, if everyone had to meet that same grizzly end at the Governor's hand, but had the option to pick one person, just one, whose life could be spared, it would have been Hershel. Tyreese was sure he wasn't the only person who thought that…

"It's unthinkable really…" Carol said while Tyreese was still deep in his thoughts.

"Here we have people having the flesh torn out of them, children holding guns, people finding paradise in a prison of all places, then there's Karen and David getting stabbed and burned, then Hershel getting…getting killed, and"

"Wait!" Tyreese interrupted, snapping out of his thoughts. "…How did you know that Karen and David were…"

But before Tyreese could even finish his question, Carol cocked her gun and pointed it straight at him. It was there that Tyreese made the terrible connecting of the dots.

"… … … …Why?"

"It needed to be done Tyreese. You and I both know that." Carol flatly replied.

Tyreese couldn't believe what he was hearing. "What the hell are you talking about!? Needed!? _Needed!?_"

"Tyreese…"

"I loved her Carol!" He exclaimed as he stood up. Carol kept the gun pointed. "I went face to face with those things just for her! Did you ever think about that!? Or better yet, did you ever think about what she had already gone through!? Everything that happened in Woodbury!? Barely, by the skin of her teeth, being the _only _one to survive The Governor!? And God knows what David went through!"

"They were coughing and they were all over the place, Tyreese!" Carol was beginning to raise her voice now as well. "I didn't want that flu, or whatever it was to spread. I did what I had to do!"

"Oh! And that worked out well for you didn't it!?" Tyreese spat as Carol tilted her head in agitation.

"I put my sister's life in your hands…" Tyreese began to pant heavily. "You know I heard that Hershel saw her collapsed on the floor, pretty much dead already, and you know what he did? He helped her. He fought for her life. He didn't give up on her… Now let me ask you this. If it were you who found her…would you have done the same thing? …Or would you have killed her?"'

"You wanna know my answer Tyreese? …Yes." Carol replied in the same flat manner she had answered Rick with. "I would have killed her."

Tyreese tilted his head as well.

"…Rick was right to send you away." Tyreese stated. "If we were still at the prison… If I didn't have a gun in my face and I heard all this, I might've actually gone ahead and killed you."

"I know that. And maybe now that you know all this, you still want to… I told Rick, when I tried to get him to let me stay, that I could handle you when you found out."

"And this how you'll do it huh? By killing me?"

"By surviving. I'll do _whatever_ it takes to survive! And if that means pulling this trigger, then so be it!" Carol looked as if she was aggressively holding back tears.

"That's just the way it is now Tyreese! You know it. I know it. We _all_ know it."

"…Kill or be killed…" Tyreese uttered as he shook his head. "…What would Andrea think of you now?…"

Carol's face fumed in anger at the mention of her late friend.

"Don't you dare use her name!… She was compassionate enough to stop all of us from killing each other, but she certainly wouldn't be dumb enough to not do what she needed to do!"

"So you're saying she'd do what _you_ did? Kill living, breathing, innocent people and _burn them_!? Why? 'Cause killing them _might _save others?"

"The needs of the group outweigh the needs of the individual. I did not like what I did to Karen and to David, but I did what I did, and I stand by it!"

"And what if it was Lizzie? What if she was the one who was coughing? Or what if it was Daryl? Or Carl? Hershel? JUDITH?"

Carol's face practically turned purple at this. She uttered a soft but strong "Shut up!"

"Would you have had the guts to do what you did if it was one of them? Would it have been as easy?" Carol's utterings of "Shut up!" were falling on deaf ears.

"…What if it was your little girl who was at the prison coughing? How would you feel if you saw her body burned to a crisp!? How would you feel if you saw Sophia like that, huh!?"

"ENOUGH!"

That was the last straw. At the mention of her daughter's name, Carol snapped, and in a blind, stupid fury, hit Tyreese across the face with the gun. Carol was not good hand-to-hand though, and as she hit him, the gun slipped out of her hand. But the damage had been done, and Tyreese was on the floor. Carol then kicked Tyreese in the stomach, and as the latter rolled over in pain, Carol brought out her knife – that could very well have been the same knife used to kill Karen and David. But before she could even raise it, Tyreese kicked her in the stomach and the force of the blow caused her to fly almost across the room and hit the wall. As Carol was getting up, Tyreese grabbed the gun, and in a moment of instinct and desperation, shot her right in the shoulder. As Carol screamed in pain, Tyreese got up but saw Lizzie peeking through a creek in the door, eyes bulged, and body stiff; she had seen the whole thing. Before Tyreese even moved a muscle, she began to run back upstairs. Tyreese, for reasons that weren't even all that clear to him, began to follow her. Lizzie quickly ran into her room, assembled her gun, silencer included, and as Tyreese reached her, she quickly pointed it at him.

"DROP THE GUN!" She demanded. Tyreese may have even forgotten that he had a gun in his hand.

"Lizzie…" Tyreese tried to talk to her, but she wouldn't hear it.

"I SAID DROP IT!" She yelled, fear prevalent in her now teary eyes.

Tyreese then raised his hands and slowly but surely, placed the gun on the floor.

The fearful look on Lizzie's face then changed to one of anger, though still with tears welling up in her eyes. Without the tears though, it was pretty much the same look, Tyreese remembered, that she had on her face when she shot Alisha. Tyreese could guess what was gonna happen next… But almost as quickly as Tyreese did the math, Lizzie quickly lowered her gun, ran and went out the window. She stood on the thin ledge outside the window and after a quick breath, jumped. The thicket of bushes below broke her fall and the height wasn't enough to kill her anyway. Immediately after, she got up and continued running. She did all of this so quickly, that by the time Tyreese looked out the window after her, she had already started running. Lizzie was getting deeper into the forest, running with all that she had, with tears overflowing from her face. A walker ambushed her as she ran, but she quickly took it down with her silenced gun. Another one began to approach her, but she shot it as well. After seeing Tyreese take his shot, everything became numb. The world around her became a blur, any other sound that Tyreese or Carol made was drowned out by the sound of her own heartbeat, heck, for all she knew, Carol was shot dead. She didn't know that for sure, but it just didn't matter. All that mattered to her was running. Running as fast as she could, as far away as she could.

* * *

**So this was the Lizzie storyline-centric chapter. Kind of my take on how they'd do it in Season 3, where there would be episodes focused entirely on the Prison and others entirely on Woodbury. **


	5. Chapter 5

Carl lay in the bed, staring at the ceiling, wide-awake. It was morning, another day in the old house, another day on the run. He left the room and made his way downstairs, where his father was on the couch, asleep and with his dose of antibiotics. Rick had insisted that Carl sleep on the bed upstairs, claiming that he would be fine. But as Carl passed his father, he noticed something very wrong with him: he wasn't breathing. The panic quickly set in, as Carl called out for his dad several times while nudging at his shoulder. It then escalated as he then clutched both of Rick's shoulders and tried to shake him awake as he called out for him. "Dad!? DAD!? DAD!?" He cried out in pure desperation. But Rick wouldn't move, and Carol shook him with all he could. "WAKE UP! WAKE UP!" He gravelly screamed. But it was no use. The tears were starting to flow out of his eyes and he could do nothing more than stand by his dad's lifeless body, look up in despair, close his eyes, and just cry. As Carl opened his eyes and looked down to gaze at his fallen father, he felt him twitch. And then again. But before Carl could even react, the reanimated Rick lunged straight for his face.

Carl woke up, inhaling loudly, sitting up on the bed. Part of him knew from the very start that it was all just a dream. After all, it hadn't been too long since he really did find Rick not breathing, when he really did desperately shake him and call for him to wake up, when he really did think that he would lose his dad. The incident still very much haunted him; this was not the first time he had had a dream like the one he just had. After catching his breath, Carl headed downstairs. It was time to wake up anyway. He passed by his father, sleeping soundly on the couch. He gently put a hand on his shoulder and took a deep breath. After a moment of just looking at Rick and taking in the fact that he was still alive, he then made his way outside, gun in hand just in case anything or anyone would try anything funny. After the literal nightmare he had just had, he needed some air.

* * *

In the forest, Lizzie was heavily panting, struggling to keep herself moving forward. She had been running throughout the night, and the adrenaline rush had worn out. Walkers came at her, and Lizzie was so exhausted, that she had to lean on a tree just to be able to aim her gun to shoot. She took one down, but there were still two others coming for her; at least her silencer prevented any more than that. Lizzie, though her fatigue caused her to do it with more effort than she normally would, raised her gun and shot one of the walkers but only in the shoulder. It still came at her, but Lizzie was just so exhausted. Finally, with the walker getting close, she was able to lift her gun and shoot the walker again. This time she shot it right in the face. But the third walker lunged at her. In spite of her exhaustion, Lizzie was able to avoid its clutches and move to the side. But whether it was because this walker was exceptionally fast or because Lizzie was exceptionally tired, the walker was able to grab her foot. As it was getting into position to bite, Lizzie used what strength she had left to laboriously kick it enough so that it would loosen its grasp on her. And once it did, Lizzie knelt up, quickly grabbed her knife and finally stabbed the walker in the head. If Lizzie wasn't out of breath enough as it was, it was a wonder she wasn't just flat out hyperventilating after her not one, but three close calls. It was all too much for her, and she couldn't help but let out an agonized scream. It was that same scream that Carl heard as he stood outside the house.

* * *

Carl couldn't know for sure where and from whom that scream came from. Was it from someone who was being torn apart by walkers? Was it from someone who was screaming for help? Was it from someone who helped the Governor throw them out of the prison? Or was it someone with whom he once lived with at the prison? He just couldn't know for certain, but he decided to go with his gut and find out.

* * *

Lizzie was doing all she could to keep moving. She was so tired that she couldn't stand up straight for long and would always end up huddling onto the nearest tree there was, just so she wouldn't fall down. It might have kept her on the road a little longer, but at least she was indeed moving forward. But when she got to one particular tree, she found herself facing an enemy that she had dealt with even before the walkers came along: fire ants. The painful bites were so strong that she immediately recoiled from the tree and fell back to the forest floor, dropping her gun in the process. She swatted away at the ants when yet another walker began to approach her. Lizzie then swatted the rest of the ants away and crawled over to her gun and stood up as best as she could. She fired. But the trauma from seeing what happened between Carol and Tyreese combined with her immense fatigue were just too much now, and she missed. She fired again, but once again, no luck. A third shot, but no hit. There was a new factor now: fear. The walker was getting closer and Lizzie just didn't have it in her to shoot. She was going to collapse soon, and the walker was getting closer as despair filled her face. But then, the sound of a gunshot, and the walker was suddenly shot right in the back of the head and fell over. Lizzie may have been exhausted, but she knew she wasn't hallucinating seeing Carl Grimes in front of her. Nevertheless, she was in utter shock. For the first time since abandoning the prison with Tyreese, she finally found another person from their old home. Somehow, someway, she did. Her exhaustion though, came into full effect, and she lost consciousness and fainted. She fell forward, but Carl quickly caught her in his arms and held her up.

* * *

**So, there you have it! The fateful meeting!**


	6. Chapter 6

Rick was pacing around the living room. For the second morning in a row, he woke up with Carl not around. While he did know that Carl could handle himself out there, walker apocalypse or not, it was just absolutely frustrating how it seemed he just never stayed in the house. The door then creaked open and Rick heard Carl call out for him. He turned to him, questions at the ready, but was caught off guard when he saw him standing there with Lizzie scooped up in his arms. A million thoughts ran through his mind as he saw this. This was Lizzie, the girl Carol swore to her dying father that she would take care of after he died, and in turn, he swore to Carol he would watch over after she was banished. This was Lizzie, who for those precious seven months, lived with him and the others, in peace at the prison. If she was with them now, then where could the others be? Where was Daryl? Glenn? Maggie? Tyreese? Michonne? Bob? Sasha? Beth? Were they nearby? Were they killed? Were the walkers too much or did they come across another madman like the Governor? If so, how did Lizzie survive him…or them? How did she escape? Was she even with the others to begin with or did she somehow find a way to survive on her own? If she was with the others, how many of them? Who? Where? Or did she find new people? And finally, Rick just couldn't shake the question out of his mind, was he really seeing his son with a _girl_!? Though he had a million and one questions to ask, Rick decided to ask just one: "What happened?"

"She was tired. She could barely stand and she almost got bit…"

Rick surmised that she had spent at the very least, the night running through the forest. Why else would she be so tired?

"What was she running from?" He asked.

"I don't know… After I saved her from the walker, she fainted."

Rick nodded; he had to wait 'till he could get answers. "Let her rest. Put her on the bed upstairs so she can have more space."

Carl nodded and headed for the stairs.

"Carl." Rick followed up. "…Good job."

Carl smiled lightly and nodded again. "I'll stay with her. Best she isn't alone when she wakes up." He added, and he carried Lizzie up the stairs. He was pretty surprised at himself 'cause he didn't realize he actually had the strength to pull that off. Downstairs, Rick could not help but think about what Carl just did right there. As a human being, he saw a practical and smart person making a reasonable decision. As a father though, and it sort of embarrassed him to acknowledge this, he saw a boy looking for alone time with a girl.

* * *

Back in the other house, an unknown distance away, Tyreese brought over a bag of bandages to Carol and gruffly handed it over. Carol pressed it to her wound. No real damage was done, the bullet passed cleanly through her shoulder and it would take just a few days to heal. But nonetheless, it still hurt, and she was in pain throughout the night. For Tyreese, that, at least for now, was revenge enough for him. They looked at each other tensely.

"I'm not sorry for what I did."

"…Lizzie's gone. The kids won't talk to us… Nice of you to say that…"

"I've seen worse…" Tyreese did not even try to be subtle and Carol shot a look back at him. "I could have killed you, you know." He continued. "I was going to shoot you in the head."

"What stopped you then?" Carl asked in a somewhat casual tone.

"…There's a baby that needs us. And children…"

"…And Lizzie?" Carol was incredibly upset about Lizzie's fleeing and felt as though Tyreese drove her away from the house and from her. Almost as soon as they were together again, they were separated again.

"We'll find her. And she'll be fine. We both know she's a tough kid." He sounded as if he wanted Carol off his back.

"…Why did you even follow her upstairs?" Carol snarled, resentment filling her voice.

Tyreese contemptuously faced Carol. "Do you really think I'm answerable to you, right now?" He stated plainly and turned away. Carol just glared back and continued to press the wound.

* * *

It was dusk, and Lizzie was beginning to wake up. As she began to open her eyes, Carl quickly called out to his dad and immediately after ran back and knelt by her side.

"Hey!" He said softly. He didn't realize until then how much his voice had sunk.

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm…" Her voice was soft and very shaky. "I'm… What happened?"

But before Carl could think of what to say, Rick came in.

"Lizzie. Are you alright?" He asked, sitting on the bed.

"I…I guess I am… What happened to your face?"

Rick moved his head around, painfully recalling what had happened. "The Governor."

Lizzie led her gaze away from Rick. She wasn't going to press any further.

"Lizzie… Can you tell me what happened?"

After a few moments' hesitation, Lizzie nodded and began.

"…We were making a run, Tyreese and I… And we saw her…"

"…Saw whom?"

"Carol."

Rick felt a shiver down his spine. He had not seen Carol in a long time and was not expecting to ever see her again. And it was he who made it that way… And he made it that way for a reason. Thinking about that reason haunted him. And knowing that Tyreese was with them made him scared as well. Lizzie knew that reason as well so she gave him a few moments before she continued.

"We found her car outside the market, and she found us. She told us… We told her about Hershel…"

It was sad to bring him up again, but Lizzie felt it was the lesser of two evils to bring him up instead of Carol's banishment, which Rick was responsible for. The grief though, set in on all three in the room, and another silence followed.

"And then?" Rick asked softly, breaking the silence.

"She had a house. She brought us there… Then that's when it all happened."

"…When what happened?" Rick was starting to get nervous. These were his people he was hearing about. Lizzie took a deep breath.

"I heard Carol and Tyreese arguing, and then I went downstairs and I saw that she had a gun pointed right at his head. And then I heard Tyreese say something about Andrea, and what she would think of her now, and it just got worse and worse!"

Lizzie was crying now, but she continued. "Tyreese said something about a… a 'Sophia', and that's when Carol lost it! She struck him down and started beating him up, then Tyreese fought back, and he shot her!"

Rick was in utter shock at what he was hearing. He had been wary of what Tyreese's reaction would be once he found out about what Carol did. That's one of the reasons he sent her away to begin with. But fate dealt its hand, and it seemed that his worst fear had been realized. Carl was even more shocked to hear this. He didn't even know about what had happened to Karen and David, let alone Carol's banishment or Tyreese's thirst for vengeance.

"Is she…?" Rick labored the words out of his mouth.

"I don't know. After he shot her, I took my gun and knife and just ran. That's all I thought about and nothing else. I don't know if Carol's alive or not, I don't know where I ran, which way I went, I don't even know how I got here! I just…I just…"

"I know. It's okay…" Rick said reassuringly. He understood that she was incredibly shaken from what happened and did not want to talk about it. But unfortunately, that meant he had no answers beyond the fact that Tyreese, and maybe Carol were alive. He needed to decide what he was going to do next.

"Carl." He beckoned for him to join him outside the room. As he turned for the door, he thought he saw his and Lizzie's hands clasped together. They had already opened the door when Lizzie suddenly remembered…

"Rick!" She called out. "She's alive, you know… Judith."

Rick felt his body go numb. He and Carl looked at each other. They could have cried there and then. Judith, Rick's baby girl and Carl's precious sister, the reason they kept going and kept fighting, was alive.

* * *

**So now that Carl and Lizzie are together, the story will start focusing mainly on their storyline now. So that's the last you saw of Tyreese and Carol for this fanfic. Sorry if anyone gets pissed at that...**


	7. Chapter 7

Rick and Carl stood in silence for a while; still taking in the news that Judith was, indeed, alive.

"She's alive…" Carl broke the silence.

"She's alive…" Rick repeated.

"After all this time, when we thought she was…" He wasn't even going to say it.

"…It's a miracle." Rick was starting to get teary eyed.

"A miracle." Carl repeated softly.  
"We gotta go find her!" Carl said, taking up a louder and more serious tone.

"How?" Rick took up the same tone. "All we know is that she's with Tyreese, and maybe Carol too. But,"

"Dad." Carl interrupted. "What the hell was she talking about back there? She said Tyreese shot Carol?"

Rick took a soft deep breath. It was always difficult telling anyone about what had happened with Carol – much more his own son. But he had to do what he had to do.

"You know how when the flu started spreading, everyone was being quarantined?" Rick asked rhetorically. "Karen and David were quarantined, and Tyreese later found them dead. They were killed, and their bodies were dragged out back and burned."

"What?" Needless to say, Carl was shocked at what he heard.

"Tyreese wanted me to find out who did it, who killed them. And I did…it was Carol."

Carl was beginning to descend into the same stunned silence that all the other people Rick told descended into when he told them. Rick continued on.

"I knew that Tyreese was prepared to kill whoever it was who killed Karen and David, and I knew that Carol was too dangerous to keep around after what she did. So I sent her away. Gave her a car, gas, supplies…"

"Dad?" Carl knocked Rick out of his train of thought. "Is she with Judith?"

"I don't even know if Carol's alive after what I heard just now… But I'm going to find out." Risk resolved.

Carl nodded and smiled. "But dad?" He suddenly remembered, "How will we even know where to look?"

Rick had been asking himself that question ever since he found out Judith was alive. "I'm a cop. I'll find a way." He said simply as he looked at the floor.

"And what about Carol?" Carl asked after a silence. "What if she's alive?"

"…If she's alive, then that means Tyreese found it in himself to not kill her. If that's the case, then maybe we can start all over. Build a new life."

"Are you sure about that? Dad…I don't trust her."

"I don't think anyone does. But if she's alive and if we bring her back, she'll have to learn to live with that. And I'm sure she'll know that if she tries anything…"

Rick didn't need to finish his sentence for Carl to understand what he meant. But he could tell that Carl was still uneasy.

"Carl, remember. No one can make it alone now."

"…No one ever could." Carl added. Rick nodded contently. That may have actually been just as much a reminder to himself as it was to Carl. The part of him that felt he was wrong to banish Carol repeatedly imparted those words on him.

"We'll leave in 3. When we're out there, I'll check the surroundings for any…"

"Dad." Carl interrupted and lightly pointed at the bedroom door. "She's scared."

After a few moments of deliberating, Rick made his decision.

"Stay with her then… She might not make it through the night alone after what she went through. She'll need the company… I'll be fine." He reassured him.

Though Rick had his qualms about letting Carl stay with Lizzie, given that two heads are better than one, and granted, as Carl's father, he had his own personal reservations on the matter, he knew it was the right thing to do. He then began to make his way to the stairs, limp free for the moment, ready to bring his daughter home.

"Dad, bring as many painkillers as you can. I don't know…"

"No need to tell me twice, Carl." He cut in resolutely before continuing walking.

"Dad…" Carl called, and Rick turned to face him. "…She's waiting for you."

And with that, Rick made his way down the stairs, into the living room and started gathering his supplies and his weapons, now more determined than ever.

Carl entered the bedroom where Lizzie was lying on her side. He gave her a small smile and sat down on the bed's edge.

"You can have the bed for the night. If you need anything, I'm just downstairs, okay?" Lizzie looked up at him with what he saw as a very innocent and, made him feel weird inside to admit it, sweet look in her eyes. Carl couldn't help but smile at her. "Get some rest. You've had a rough day." He said sweetly. He then got up to leave.

"Carl?" Lizzie whispered as she clutched his hand. Carl turned to look at her.

"…Can you stay?" She asked. Carl could hear the meekness in her voice, and he also saw the pleading look in her eyes and couldn't help but feel absolute sympathy for her. She looked so vulnerable, so delicate, so scared. He smiled compassionately at her again, and gently removed his hand from hers. He took off his hat and placed it on the side desk beside the bed.

"Of course." He gently assured her, and Lizzie smiled a small, meek smile.

She then rolled over further into the bed, and Carl took off his shoes and lay down beside her and wrapped his arm around her as tightly as he could. Lizzie felt safer, but the memory of what happened still resonated in her mind so clearly that she once again started to cry. She placed her hands on his arm and started breathing slowly.

"You're safe now okay?" Carl told her. "No one's gonna hurt you. I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere okay?" In that moment, Carl's main priority, the thing he was absolutely focused on doing, was making Lizzie feel safe, making her feel protected. "No one's gonna hurt you." He repeated. And he held her closer. Indeed, in Carl's mind, _nothing _was going to make her feel scared, and absolutely _no one _was going to hurt her. As far as he was concerned, anyone or anything that wanted to would have to go through him first. Making her not just feel, but know that she was safe and protected was his absolute, foremost priority now.

With all that Carl and Lizzie had been through as of late, the way they were now, close together in each other's arms, that was the best they could ask for then and there. Carl still had nightmares about how his dad almost didn't wake up that day. He still had nightmares about what it would have been like to lose his father to this world just as he had lost his mother, to be the only remaining person in his family, to be completely and entirely on his own… The thought still scared him and the memory of how that almost came to be still haunted him. But for tonight, if the thought still scared him and the memory still haunted him, he could just hold Lizzie tighter. It would make him feel better. Lizzie was still scared and still shaken from her ordeal. She could still remember everything from the gunshot to the snarls of the walkers. She was scared that she would dream of something horrible like Carol beating Tyreese to death with the gun, or Tyreese shooting Carol and then cornering and shooting _her_ in a blind fury, or the walkers overwhelming her and ripping her apart. But for tonight, if she did have one of those dreams, or all of them, she could lean closer into Carl's protective embrace. It would make her feel safer.

They slept soundly that night, with their fears and haunting memories kept at bay. And indeed, within the night, they inched closer, more intimately to each other. Perhaps one of them had his dreaded nightmare. Or maybe one of them became haunted by her painful and terrifying memories. Or they both had their nightmares or they both were haunted. Or maybe it was a different reason entirely…


	8. Chapter 8

It was the morning or the afternoon, Carl wouldn't know, and the sun was shining brightly and illuminating the area. While any other living person out there would find this warm, embracing weather extremely ironic, for Carl, it was extremely fitting. After finding out his sister was still out there, alive and well, and after sleeping the most comfortably he had slept in a while, things for once, were looking up for him. He went downstairs to the living room of the house he, for now, called home, and saw Lizzie right outside, aiming her gun at something. He went out to join her, and as he did, he heard her muffled shot, and her frustrated groan afterward.

"Neat silencer you got there…" He said, commenting on the little black cylinder.

"Thanks!" She replied in a refreshingly jolly tone. "Carol…gave it to me."

It was a bit unnerving to hear her name after finding out last night about all the things she did, but the smile on his face didn't disappear. He noticed a Coke can tied to a string hanging from the tree across the street. Obviously what Lizzie was pointing her gun at. She carefully aimed her gun, but she still didn't shoot.

"…Aaany minute now…" Carl sarcastically quipped.

"Can't waste bullets…" She passively responded. And soon after, she took the shot. No luck.

"DAMN IT!"

"Whoa! Whoa!" Carl cried out as he rushed over to her and put a hand on her wrist. "Don't scream so loudly! Walkers might hear you!" He whisper-shouted.

"Sorry! Haven't been able to shoot since that one in the forest!" She grouchily whispered back.

After a moment, Carl decided to help out.

"Here…" He moved in behind her. "You gotta aim it a little higher…" He said as he held her wrists and started adjusting the gun in her hands. "Riiight…there. Okay! Give it a try. I'll keep your hands steady."

With Carl's hands still on her wrists, Lizzie took a deep breath and took the silent shot. The sound of the metallic clang accompanied the Coca-Cola spilling out of the can as the bullet hit it dead center.

"…Wait! You shot a _full_ Coke can?" Carl asked rather loudly. Lizzie's mouth contorted into a full O-like shape.

"…Oh my God! I'm so sorry… I…I didn't think you were gonna drink that! I mean, I thought no one would drink a warm Coke! And… And I thought it was old and rotten already, and I didn't realize…"

"Wait! Wait! Wait! Lizzie! Lizzie." Carl talked over her. "Chill. I was just asking."

"…Ohhh…" Lizzie sighed in relief. "Okaaaaay! For a second there, you scared me… I thought you were pissed…" She chuckled.

"I don't even like Coke, Liz." Carl playfully replied. "But what am I gonna do with all those Mentos I got on the last run?"

It may not have been a joke that would put George Carlin to shame, but they both started laughing. It was the kind of muffled and suppressed laugh that people would let out if they were in a silent theatre and suddenly remembered something funny. And it was in those moments of laughter that they completely forgot where they were. Every sense and perception of reality had disappeared and all there was was laughter and Lizzie's labored interval proclamations of "That was _bad_! That was _so baaad_!". In time though, they snapped back into reality and remembered where they were. More specifically, what position they were in. Even after all the leaning and jerking forward, and all the times Lizzie nearly fell over in laughter, they had found their way back into that same intimate position: bodies close together, Lizzie leaned back on Carl's chest, the only difference now was that Carl's hands weren't holding Lizzie's wrists anymore, they somehow found a way to wrap themselves around her stomach. Only now then did they realize they had been in that position for so long, and the awkwardness was beginning to set in. They stared at each other in silence. They had blank looks on their faces, but the blushes told the whole story. Their cheeks were about as red as apples now.

"So… Thanks for helping me out… Just there…" Lizzie awkwardly brought the words out of her mouth with a light smile.

"Yeah… Anytime…" Carl replied with just as much effort.

They then heard snarling and just as well, they saw a walker shambling their way. They knew any walker was not good news, but they had to admit, they were kinda glad it came at the time it did. Carl unwrapped himself from Lizzie.

"Let's go back in. We can barricade and wait it out. It might not have noticed us…" He instructed, taking up a more serious tone now.

"…Wait." Lizzie said as she raised her gun and took aim.

"I thought you said you didn't want to waste bullets."

"I haven't been able to shoot these things since I got here. I either learn to take them down again or die." She then paused to adjust her aim some more. "Now's as good a time as any."

Carl would have objected, but ultimately saw her logic. "Fine. But remember, aim higher and keep your hands steady."

"Yup." She aimed the gun some more. The walker was still a bit far but she felt, or hoped at least, that she got a good aim on it. And, after a few more seconds, she fired, and the muffled sound of the gun firing was followed by a gush of blood exploding from the walker's head as it fell to the ground. Lizzie smiled ecstatically as she lowered the gun. Carl knew what she was going to do next.

"Shit." He uttered to himself, and he ran as fast as he could toward her. He got to her just as her triumphant scream was reaching full volume and quickly put a hand over her mouth. He then hastily gestured to her and they began running back to the house.

"What the fuck!? Do you want to bring an entire herd here!?" He whisper-shouted as they ran back into the house. They got back in, and Carl quickly but quietly closed the door and then leaned back on it and looked at Lizzie questioningly. She in turn, just looked at him blankly. But after a few moments, Lizzie smirked and soon enough, they both once again broke out in silent laughter.

* * *

Rick refilled the gasoline in the car, as the body of a walker he had stabbed lied motionless nearby. After briefly surveying the area for anything, he got back inside the car. He turned on the engine, and then took a painkiller. While it was a good sign that this was only the first one he took since heading out, it dawned on him that the search for Judith would in all probability last longer than his stash of painkillers would. So he drove back to the market where he and Carl made their last run and, with no limp, went up to the second floor and took another two bottles of painkillers. As he made his way back to the car, a walker started shambling its way towards him but Rick just continued walking to the car as if the walker wasn't even there. It barely got a hand on the car when Rick drove off, leaving it to just purposelessly shamble.

It was quite ironic for a cop to be driving in-between lanes, but in this world, simply put, nobody cared. Being in-between those lanes though, put him a little closer to the other side of the road, which made it easier for him to see the things there, and as he drove, Rick saw what he thought he saw there last time: a walker, stabbed right through the chin, lying dead. It was a slight relief for Rick to be able to confirm what he saw. At least he knew what he saw was real and that he wasn't seeing things again. That was one mystery solved. But speaking of mysteries…

Rick made a U-turn back towards the spot where the dead walker was. If it was dead, who had killed it? Surely, the chances of its being killed by Tyreese or Carol, or whoever had Judith, or by anyone else in his old group for that matter, were slim, but any, absolutely _any _possible lead was worth investigating. He got out of the car and dragged out the corpse, then looked closely at its chin. The hole in it was small; this one had obviously stabbed with a pocketknife. But as Rick continued to investigate the walker, he thought he noticed something even more interesting farther back into the forest. With knife at the ready just in case, he moved a little more into the forest, and there, he saw them: tire tracks. Quickly, he moved out of the forest and made his way to the car.

* * *

**Chapter 8 folks! Credits for the Carl-Lizzie gun tutorial moment goes to "Waste of an Arrow" author frankielouwho **


	9. Chapter 9

Carl and Lizzie sat on the floor. Even though there was a couch right there, they still chose to just lean their heads on its base and sit on the floor anyway. They looked as if they were waiting for something to happen or something to come.

"Next time we run, we're getting a board game…or something." Carl reminded more himself than Lizzie.

"Yyyyup." Lizzie replied in an almost deadpan voice.

After a short moment, Carl snorted and tilted his head up. "I swear to God! I'd even go for story time right now!"

"You do remember that that was all a load of crap that Carol set up so she could teach us to kill walkers right? You being the only one who caught us and all…"

"Yeah! I know! But I forgot 'cause I'm bored!" Carl said in one breath

Lizzie groaned in frustration and started bouncing her head on the couch's base.

"Me too! I need fun-ness!" She let out a bored snort before stopping her head banging "Quick! Do something!" She demanded.

"Like _what_?"

"I don't know… Can you sing?" She hastily asked off the top of her head.

Carl made a face that was similar to Dale's when he would get suspicious of someone. "Do you _not _hear the puberty in my voice?"

Lizzie groaned again and rolled her eyes, with a slight grin on her face.

Carl then looked at her with a blank tongue-in-cheek look on his face.

"What about you? Can you sing?"

Lizzie raised an eyebrow and looked at him fiercely.

"…Secret."

"Oooohhh…" Carl teased. "Mystery…" And for some reason, Carl slowly but surely started laughing again, starting with a single "Ha" and then progressing to a more expressive, onomatopoeic laugh. After a few moments, Lizzie found herself snorting in laughter as well.

"Oh God! Not this again!" She despaired. This was the second time in one day that she's laughed at a bad joke Carl made. He laughed even louder at that.

"Go to hell, Carl!" She playfully responded to Carl's finger pointing while swinging her hand in the air. The laughter soon died down, but the smiles were still there.

"We're _that_ bored aren't we?" He suggested.

"No shit." She replied in kind. And they started laughing again.

After a few seconds, Carl spoke again.

"Hey. Um, I still haven't said sorry yet. Have I?"

"About what?"

"About that time. When we were in the garden, and you…"

"Nick." She interjected, recalling that incident. "I know… You were right by the way."

"…Doesn't mean I'm not sorry…" He told her with an innocent smile.

Lizzie brightly smiled as well and then put her head down to hide her blush. "Well I guess you could have been a little less rude about it…" She conceded. She looked at him sweetly and this time, it was Carl who turned away, blushing.

"I'll just say that you did that to protect us." Lizzie suggested with a childlike voice, putting emphasis on the last three syllables.

"…Yeah!" Carl replied enthusiastically with a smile. Lizzie smiled back at him before turning her head and looking at the ground.

"But seriously. I'm sorry." Carl told her in a more serious tone. Lizzie looked at him thoughtfully and then lightly smiled and looked to the ground.

"I'll admit though, I _was_ pretty mad at first." Her smile then became less visible.

"Carol, though, when I went to talk to her after that, told me, that I should understand that you've been through a lot... She even told me about how you had to…"

Lizzie held back on finishing her sentence.

"'Shoot your mom'?" Carl finished it for her. "Yeah…" Carl looked down as he nodded in anguish. "She died giving birth to Judith…" He continued.

"I was there. We were trapped. It was just me, her, Maggie… She needed a C-section. We had no choice. Maggie…I had to…"

"Oh my God…" Lizzie didn't want to make Carl finish. She felt she had crossed the line asking him about this. "Carl, I am so sorry! I…"

"It's fine." He interjected. "I guess it's time for me to start talking about it anyway."

Lizzie gave a thoughtful look before proceeding. "Carol also told me about, how the two of you were standing watch one day. You talked about her…your mom."

Carl just looked at her, silently prodding her to continue on.

"You don't think she's proud of you?"

Carl shook his head and faced the floor. "Why would she be?" He then looked up and shook his head again. There were tears in his eyes now. "All I ever was was a mean little brat."

"Carl..." Lizzie sounded like she was going to object.

"I just ignored her!" Carl silently exclaimed as the tears started flowing some more.

"I mean, eight months! Eight months, we were on the road, and all I ever did, was ignore her! She was _pregnant_ for God's sake!" Carl's face was turning red from all his crying.

"I'm her son! I was supposed to be there for her! I should have helped her when she would vomit in the woods, or when she'd get tired and lag behind or I could have at least stayed with her and felt the baby kick! But no! I damn well just pretended she wasn't there, and when I did talk to her, I'd just spew some rude, bratty _bullshit_! Even when we got to the prison… Nothing. We had one argument, I walked out on her, and that was it." Carl stopped talking to let himself cry some more. "That was it." He softly repeated.

The last time he had cried as much was in his mother's arms, just after he had found out about what happened between his father and Shane. Lizzie wrapped an arm around his shoulder and let him cry.

"You know Carl, you can't possibly blame yourself for everything that happened between you and your mom. She did what she did, and you felt the way you felt. You couldn't have seen…what happened next coming. It's not entirely your fault."

Carl lifted his head up and stared ahead. "I just wish I could tell her how sorry I am." He wasn't as hysterical as he was earlier but the melancholia was still apparent in the way he sounded. "If I could just say one last 'I'm sorry', or one more 'I love you' or just let her hear the sound of me calling her 'Mom' one last time… Or one more hug, one more kiss on the cheek… Just so I can do right by her."

Lizzie began to tear up herself now. She slowly took her arm off Carl's shoulder and placed her hands on her mouth. Carl looked at her questioningly as tears were now starting to pour down _her_ face. He didn't even need to ask.

"Do you remember when we were in the garden, in the prison, and you asked me if I ever saw someone turn, and I said yes?"

Carl very lightly nodded.

"Well…I saw my mom." And just like Carl before her, Lizzie began to choke up.

"It's not so different from what happened with you and your mom. We were also on the road, on the run. It was just us…me, my mom, Mika and my dad. We found a small house to live in. Then one day, I saw a…a chipmunk, and I always loved rodents, I always wanted a pet like that, so I got a net, and I tried to catch it, but it ran off to the woods. I ran after it and saw that it hadn't run too far into the forest, so I decided to try and catch it there… I was about to swing the net when my mom caught me and brought me back to the house. And, well, I was angry. I was so captivated by that chipmunk, I felt like she just snatched me out of what I was doing. I screamed at her, called her a bitch, and told her I hated her. Later that night, she tried to talk to me about it, apologize, and maybe say that we could go hunting together the next day, but I just brushed her off. I told her to go away… And she did. She went outside and I heard her crying. I didn't care; I thought it was good that she was feeling bad. And then that's when I heard the snarling and the screaming. I went and grabbed the nearest weapon and ran out after her; she had run out to the woods, and when I found her, it was too late. The walker had her. It was just biting and biting into her, I'll never forget her screams. So I stabbed it, first walker I ever killed, and I went to her. I didn't know what to do. I knelt by her side, held her head, cried, and I saw the color leave her face… I saw her eyes stop blinking, felt her stomach stop moving… I saw her die."

"Lizzie…" Carl breathed out. He would not have guessed in a thousand years that Lizzie had gone through that much.

"I stayed with her after that… I don't remember how long, or if it was even day or night by then… Eventually, she turned and she went straight for me… I was completely lost. I knew I had to kill her, but…she was my mom. I ended up doing nothing but somehow my dad found us. He shot her, and he brought me back after… We left the house after that. Too painful to know she was still there…dead."

Carl put a hand on her shoulder. All she said back in the prison was "Yeah. I have." He could not believe how so much was contained in just those three simple words. They were three words that were worth a million more.

"I don't know what to say…"

Lizzie pursed her lips and began to wipe her tears; Carl wiped a tear from her eye with his thumb causing Lizzie to smile meekly.

"Your mother's proud of you Carl. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Even after all that happened with my mom, I know that she still loves me. I know that she's proud of me for making it this far. And you, you kept us alive for so long in that prison and have done so much for us… If that doesn't make your mom proud, I don't know what in God's name will."

Carl lightly laughed at the last sentence. He kept the smile on his face as a way to show Lizzie his gratitude.

"I just miss her, you know. It all just happened so suddenly. One moment, she's the one person in my life who I wish just wasn't there, and the next, she's the one person who isn't there who I wish was." More tears formed in his eyes.

"Ironic isn't it?… And now we live in this world where we lose people left and right. One would think we'd get used to it and be all 'Been there, done that', but really it just gets worse doesn't it?"

"Yeah… When we were still at Hershel's farm, I got someone killed, and I vowed never to touch a gun again…good luck to me if I actually kept my word on that. When Daryl's brother was killed…I killed a guy. When my mom died…I put a gun in my mouth and almost pulled the trigger…"

More tears started streaming down his face; this was the first time he ever talked about the last to anyone else. "I would have done it. Only thing that stopped me was Beth coming to see me. I couldn't shut myself up. I hid the gun before she could see it and just cried on her… _I would have done it_."

Lizzie was sad to hear about that; tears streamed down her face as well. But this was something she could relate to.

"After my mom died and I watched her turn into a walker, well, you know what happened, you saw me naming the walkers out there… And after my dad died…"

But before she continued, she just stopped and shook her head.

"People think we're cold. We're not…we're"

"…just trying to be." Lizzie finished the sentence. "We've lost so much already in this world. And I guess the feeling of grief, of having to get over losing someone is just too much, we just try to not find someone we don't want to lose in the first place. So much for that old saying, 'It's better to have loved and lost …"

"'…than never to have loved at all.'" Carl finished. "But then there's that other old saying, 'You never know what you have until it's gone.' That's pretty much our mantra in this world."

"Yeah…" Lizzie then shrugged her shoulders. "The Prison."

"Beds to sleep on."

"Hershel."

"Andrea." Lizzie looked at Carl with a somewhat perplexed look; she'd never really heard him talk about Andrea that much in that light. With Lizzie's wordless prodding, Carl explained.

"I'm sure it's no secret that it took me a while to warm up to you guys when you first arrived at the prison. I was so grumpy and irritable, especially to the other kids… There was this one time, I got pissed at one of them, I think it was Luke, he was climbing up a walker fence…so yeah, I got pissed. I got him down, and went all 'You're not supposed to do that! Are you crazy!?' on him. Then, I kinda took it a little too far and went all 'God! What the fuck are you even doing here!?", which was where my dad stepped in. He took me aside, asked me what I thought I was doing, and I told him that they were stupid, and weak, and not even supposed to be here and how they were from Woodbury, and all of that other stuff. And then he told me that he didn't care if I liked this or not, this was the way it was going to be. He then told me, and I'll never forget this, he told me that 'so much has been sacrificed for this to happen. Andrea _died_ for this, dammit!'"

An ironic smile then formed on Carl's face.

"He saw the look on my face, and he knew that this was something he had to tell me, as much as it hurt him to do so. He told me that we were at war, and that all those other people, he didn't care if they were going die. All he cared about was killing The Governor, and he was just about ready to kill anyone who looked like he was gonna get in his way…even them. Andrea, she was the only one who didn't have death in her eyes, and tried to reason with us, and my dad admitted that he let it all go out the other ear. When she went to the prison, when we saw her again after all those months we thought she was dead…we were glad she was back. I mean, she was family; we all knew that. But we didn't let her know it. We were cold, we were angry, and we wanted blood. She was a fool to try to stop us, we thought. Then my dad saw the Woodbury army dead, and then he saw her. He knew what he had to do after that. So he told me, if I wasn't going to learn to live with these people for his sake, I could at least do it for hers.

"So I tried. I knew that my dad had been through a lot, I knew that he was grieving and he was hurting…" Carl took a deep breath before continuing.

"And I may have tried to be, a kid again mainly for his sake but, I just couldn't help but think about Andrea… We never really talked much or anything, and I never really let her in per se, but now that she was gone too… After what my dad said, I sort of wished I had, and with the others who died too. I went to her grave everyday after that, and everyone else's too… I cared about her; I cared about them. I just never showed it… I just wish I could turn back the clock a few months, and…"

"Maybe you should give more hugs." Lizzie humorously suggested, and they laughed for a while before she continued. "I don't know. It seems like no matter what we do, there will always be something we'll regret."

Carl nodded in agreement. "It's just hard. If we get too attached to people, we won't be able to move on when they're gone, and we'll just regret the whole thing. But if we just cut ourselves off from them, we're just gonna wish we hadn't…we're gonna regret we hadn't, 'cause no one can make it alone in this world."

"Yeah…" Lizzie breathed out. "And we can't just say 'solution: don't let them die', 'cause they will. That's the way it is now here…"

"We live a life full of regrets..." Carl finally said. They then sat there in silence. Lizzie had her hands on the floor and Carl had his on his knees, and they reflected. They reflected on everything they'd gone through and let the tears quietly stream down their faces. It was a long, long silence.

"…Well…" Lizzie perked up, finally breaking the silence. "That was…fun."

Carl chuckled. "Yeah, that sure killed the boredom didn't it…" He quipped.

And they laughed some more.

"But uh," Carl interjected, taking a more serious tone. "Thanks! For letting me…talk about it."

"Of course." Lizzie smiled. "Thanks for letting _me_."

"Yeah…" And Carl smiled back at her and boldly reached for her hand. She turned her face away, blushing, while Carl didn't remove his gaze on her. But they both smiled the brightest smile a closed mouth could. And they held hands as they did so.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Rick drove deeper into the forest, following the tire tracks. He wasn't so certain if he was doing the smart thing. For all he knew, he was driving towards the camp of some psychopath who fed children to walkers. Or he could be following the tracks of people who drove into the forest and were devoured by walkers, and heading towards the fiesta. Or he could be driving towards a group of complete and total strangers. Then again, he could be driving towards Daryl. Maybe he found a car on the road and took refuge in the forest. And maybe he had Beth or someone else from the group with him. And of course, Rick was not going to dismiss the thought; he could be driving to Tyreese. To Carol. To Judith. That's what kept him going. That's why he drove deeper into the woods. To be able to see his daughter again, the reason he kept on going, kept on living…to see the baby girl he thought he had lost, it was something he would literally go to the ends of the Earth for. It was something he would literally die for. Rick continued driving, following the tracks, but as he turned right, he saw something rather gruesome: a decapitated walker head. Maybe it was just a coincidence that it was there. Besides, you can't make it through the forest without killing a few walkers. Rick just carried on following the tracks, but when he took another right, he saw another walker head. Rick had to admit to himself that this was creeping him out and to mention making him very wary. He drove on, going straight until ultimately the tracks led him to a cabin in the woods. It was medium sized, but the dusky sky made it dark. Though the tracks went on beyond the cabin, Rick decided to investigate it still. Maybe he could find clues there. He grabbed his knife and carefully stepped out of the car and made his way to the cabin. Arriving at the half open door, he took a few deep breaths and swiftly opened it. And just as he anticipated, a walker made its way out and went for him, but he quickly took it down. He then made his way into the cabin and while he saw makeshift beds and a large crate near the door that was probably used as a barricade, he did not see any people. He disappointedly made his way out of the cabin, but saw that there were more walkers approaching him. He had his knife at the ready, and in true sheriff form, he took them down with ease, slicing the walkers' faces like they were stalks of tall grass. As he headed towards the car, another walker suddenly ambushed him from the side of the cabin, and while it was a pretty close call, Rick was able to push it away and stab it in the head. Rick knew for sure that a walker couldn't possibly strategically hide by the cabin and ambush him; it couldn't possibly be able to plan something as elaborate as that. Something most definitely attracted it to that particular area, so he went to investigate. What he saw mortified him. Not because it was an incredibly gruesome and disgusting sight, but because it was actually quite a familiar one. It was a squirrel, dead, and partially eaten. And though the walker was the one that ate it, it wasn't the one that killed it. There was a slash on the squirrel's throat, a straight, smooth slash. This was the kind of macabre sight that Rick was no stranger to. He recalled the ripped apart rats and the dissected rabbit he saw at the prison. Whoever did those, definitely lived in the cabin for a while. And that person was still out there, perhaps still out there…with Judith.

* * *

Lizzie sat on the couch as Carl came to sit with her, canned food in hand.

"And our main course for tonight, corned beef." He sarcastically proclaimed.

"Thank you," She perkily replied as he handed her a can and spoon before sitting down on the coach.

"Hey. Cheers!" She proclaimed as she raised her can. Carl smiled back and they sarcastically clanged their cans together and then started eating. After a few bites, Lizzie merrily groaned. "What I'd give for another deer."

"…Do you miss deer like Andrea misses her vibrator?"

Lizzie almost spat the beef out from hearing that. Carl just laughed as she labored to swallow her food.

"WHAT…THE FU-"

"Hey! It may sound weird but I'm telling you! It's true!" Carl lightly interrupted.

"Okay… _How _do you know this!?…" Lizzie demanded, as she clenched her teeth.

Carl lightly smiled. "We talked about her a lot, the weeks after she died…"

"…Oh." The angry look on Lizzie's face disappeared, and she started to feel guilty for pressing him on, especially after all that he said about her.

"Well, if there's a heaven, let's hope she's got one up there!" Carl quipped, lightening the mood once more.

"Really!?" Lizzie shot back. But Carl was too busy laughing at his own joke and eventually, she just covered her mouth and followed suit. Again.

"So um…" Lizzie stopped her laughing. "Shouldn't you be a bit worried?"

"…What?" Carl replied with a confuse look on his face.

"Well, it's been almost a whole day since we last saw your dad. And, we've been awake since the morning…that's a pretty long time for a run… Aren't you worried?"

"…Oh! Oh yeah! That's right, I haven't told you yet. My dad went to go find Judith! He's bringing her home." Carl replied with a smile.

But Lizzie however, was starting to look tense and Carl was starting to notice.

"He'll be fine. And, besides, it'll be better for him to try and fail than not to try at all." He reassured her. But the tenseness did not disappear from her face.

"Something wrong?" He finally asked her.

"Carl…" She shakily spoke up. "Judith's with _Tyreese_."

Carl raised his eyebrows at her, prodding her.

"Tyreese shot Carol. He practically chased me out of the house… What's your dad going to do when he finds him?"

"I guess he'll take him back too, and Carol also if she's still…" Carl held back from saying the last word. "We'll rebuild the group. Regain what we lost."

Lizzie still looked at him tensely. "…So he's not going to kill him?"

Carl was beginning to get wary. "If he doesn't try anything, I guess…"

"Carl!" She interrupted. "Yes or no?"

"…No."

Lizzie then cursed slowly under her breath and stood up and started pacing the room, hand on mouth. It was not lost on her that they only found out that Judith was alive because she said so. "Of course they were gonna go look for!" She thought to herself. She was swearing at her own stupidity.

"Lizzie! What the hell? What's the matter?" Carl worriedly asked.

"He shot Carol!"

"I know!" He instantly replied, even though it sounded like she had more to say.

"But Lizzie, first of all, she killed Karen and David, and second, you know that no one will try anything. _We will see to that_."

Carl noticed that tears had once again begun to roll down her face.

"Carl," She said under her breath. "You don't understand. If he comes back here, I'm gonna kill him."

"Liz."

"Or he's gonna kill me!"

"Hey." Carl stood up and held her shoulders. "Remember what I told you? No one's gonna hurt you now. I meant it then and I mean it now. Anyone or anything that wants to get you has the go through me first. So if Tyreese wants to get you, or kill you, I will see to it that he doesn't!...Even if that means killing him."

But Lizzie just shook her head and looked up at him. "No you won't." And Carl slipped his hands off Lizzie's shoulders in apparent frustration. Lizzie walked over by the stairs. "You're gonna just stand there and watch him kill me or you're gonna watch me kill him."

"Now why in God's name would you think I would do that!?" Carl was getting frustrated but also getting very bewildered.

"You wanna know why Carl!? Because you're gonna want me dead just as much as Tyreese will!"

"Lizzie! What the FUCK makes you think I'd want you dead!?"

"You, him, your dad, Carol if she's still alive, you're all gonna want a bullet in my head or a knife lodged in my brain or my skin ripped from my bones!"

"Why!? _Why _would you think that any of us would want that!?"

"BECAUSE IT WAS ME!" She finally yelled out.

"…What?" Carl squinted in bewilderment.

"…Carol didn't kill Karen and David…I did…" Carl's eyes began to bulge.

"It was after Patrick died and the walkers attacked the Cell Block… My dad was killed, and I was supposed to be the one to make sure he didn't turn. I already had the knife in my hands…but I just couldn't do it. I was weak… And I knew that I just couldn't survive if I kept on being so…so I needed to prove to myself that I wasn't. Then people started getting sick, Karen started coughing, David…I thought that I was doing what I had to do so I went in there and…I killed them. Stabbed them right in their heads. Carol found them and she saw me leave their room with a bloody knife so…she brought them out and burned them. So that no one would know that they were stabbed…"

Carl just stood there in stunned silence as Lizzie continued hysterically talking.

"Look I know that what I did was wrong, and I regret it everyday! I just _thought _that I was doing what needed to be done! I didn't want to be weak! I know…"

Lizzie interrupted herself to sound less hysterical while Carl just stood there in shock.

"Carl. It's me. Please. I know I'm messed up and I know that I deserve to rot in hell for what I did. But I…I don't want to die. Not now…"

She felt that now that the truth was out, everyone wanted to kill her. And in her mind, Carl was thinking about doing just that.

"Carl, please. If you let me leave now, you won't have to worry about me. I'll run out there, maybe the walkers will get me, but, Carl please don't hurt me. Please…"

But all she saw was Carl's stunned, blank face. She burst out in tears again and briefly crouched down in despair.

"Carl I swear to God. If you try to hurt me, I _will _fight back. Look! I'm sorry, okay! I'm not proud of what I did! Not one bit! But Carl for your sake just as much as mine, please just…just don't kill me! Don't hurt me!

"Please…" And she tightly closed her eyes and swallowed laboriously. "DON'T!" She shouted, and she quickly brought out her knife and pointed it at Carl. He snapped out of his state of shock at this.

"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Lizzie! Lizzie!" Carl tried to calm her down and get that knife pointed away from him. But Lizzie kept on pleading with him to not hurt her. He, in turn, repeatedly pleaded her to calm down and put down her knife. He moved closer to her, but that just made her more frantic. She looked like she had completely lost her mind. Carl still tried to calm her down, but Lizzie was just getting more and more hysterical. As they were both trying to do what they felt they needed to do, Carl with calming Lizzie down, and Lizzie with protecting herself, the situation became more and more dire and it was getting louder and louder and louder. But Carl took a long deep breath and in what looked like one swift motion, forced Lizzie's knife-wielding hand down, and moved forward and pressed his lips to hers. It was all so sudden, for both of them. The feeling was so overwhelming that Lizzie instantly dropped her knife. They broke away briefly to take in the shock of what had just happened. Lizzie and Carl just looked at each other in shock, but then brought their lips back together. Lizzie closed her eyes as tears still rolled down her face; she couldn't describe how she was feeling.

But Carl's eyes were wide open, and he slowly reached to his side and pulled out his gun from its holster. He remembered how he didn't kill that walker in the swamp that came and killed Dale. He remembered how he lost his mother and T-Dog because of Andrew, and how Merle, Axel, Hershel and Andrea all died by the Governor's hand. He wouldn't let that happen to his father, or to Judith for that matter. He needed the threat gone. He began to lift his gun; it would all take just 5 seconds. She wouldn't even feel it. She wouldn't even see it coming.

_1…2…3…_

But as he counted, Carl's train of thought was interrupted by another one:

_"It seems like no matter what we do, there will always be something we'll regret."_

And as the thought of Lizzie's words came to him, he used the last two seconds to place his gun back in its holster.

He held her face and they continued to kiss for a few more moments before finally breaking away. Lizzie looked up at him with an innocent and tense look on her face and then buried her head on his shoulder and put her arms on his waist. Carl put one arm around the back of her neck and clutched her shoulder and placed his other hand on her head. He looked straight ahead as the dusk began to turn into night. Did he stop himself from doing something he would regret or did he in fact, _do _something he would regret? Time would tell.

But for now, could he say that he didn't regret what he did? Yes.

Why? Was it compassion? Was it forgiveness? Was it fear?

It was a different reason entirely... Three words worth a million more...

* * *

**So there you have it! I'm gonna admit though, I didn't proofread these chapters when I posted them. So, yeah. If you found any glaring technical errors (typos, repeated paragraphs, misused words etc.) sorry! I hope you enjoyed! Walking Dead forever!**


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